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7
A State-of-the-Art Energy Consumption
Data Collection Program
The panel’s recommendations in this report are based on a careful bal-
ance between what the data needs are and what is most realistic to imple-
ment in the short term. This chapter offers some additional ideas that may
be less feasible in the short term or are perhaps less critical but that could
help U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) as it plans for the
future.
A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF ALL
ENERGY-CONSUMING PREMISES
Due to practical considerations, the three current energy consumption
surveys, the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS),
the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), and the Manufac-
turing Energy Consumption Survey impose somewhat arbitrary divisions
between the energy-consuming sectors, particularly as they apply to prem-
ises on the boundaries between the sectors. Furthermore, some energy-
consuming premises are treated as out of scope by all three of the existing
surveys. This is not unusual or inconsistent with other federal surveys. Still,
it is possible to envision a comprehensive design for collecting building
energy consumption based on a sampling frame that includes all build-
ings, regardless of type. Buildings would be sampled from this frame and
would then be classified into categories such as commercial, residential, or
industrial, instead of being divided into categories first and then sampled.
87
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88 EFFECTIVE TRACKING OF BUILDING ENERGY USE
A variation on the area sampling approach that is becoming more
feasible with today’s technology is to develop a grid with small enough cell
sizes to capture buildings and then lay that grid over a map of the United
States. A computer program can perform clustering and determine whether
a given cell contains any buildings by, for example, using satellite mapping
to identify buildings. The panel anticipates that most buildings could be
accurately classified by EIA without the need to rely on field visits. Field
procedures would still have to be developed for handling cases that cannot
be classified or that are misclassified, but it would be possible to implement
an approach of this type in a significantly more cost-effective way than cur-
rent designs that rely primarily on field listing.
Drawing a random sample of buildings based on satellite maps may be
another way to approach a design of this type. For example, the street-view
function of programs such as Google maps could help in assigning many
of the selected buildings to an energy-consuming sector, although it would
not work in all cases, and there are some areas for which the street-view
function is not available. The technology and the availability of features are
constantly changing, and this should also be an important consideration.
INTERACTIVE ONLINE TOOLS
Few government surveys have embraced the use of interactive online
tools as a means to build awareness about a data collection and to en-
courage survey participation. As it becomes more and more difficult to
maintain high response rates, agencies are being forced to invest more and
more resources into nonrespondent follow-up, but most agencies rely on a
limited number of techniques to gain respondent cooperation. In the case
of a survey such as the RECS, in particular, innovative strategies involving
interactive online tools may be able to engage sample members who are
interested in learning about their homes’ energy consumption. Fostering a
sense of involvement and reciprocity around the data collection programs
will change the dynamics and could help EIA maintain high-response rates
at least among a specific segment of the population.
There are a number of possibilities for integrating interactive online
tools. A relatively simple approach would be to start an online community
for sample members and offer online calculators or tools that would allow
users to compare their homes’ energy use and features to those of an aver-
age home or to those of homes in their community. Such tools would not
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89
ENERGY CONSUMPTION DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM
only engage users but would also produce data that could be “scraped” and
analyzed by EIA, for example, to track trends in the behavior of the users.
A more involved approach that would work particularly well in combi-
nation with a web survey would be to provide each respondent with a brief
analysis of his or her responses once the questionnaire is completed. This is a
concept similar to one used by the National Health and Nutrition Examina-
tion Survey (NHANES), which provides survey participants with the results
of their physical examination as an incentive to participate.1 The results
provided to the RECS respondents might compare their homes’ energy use
to energy efficiency standards or to the energy use of similar houses in the
neighborhood, state, or climate zone. The most compelling, although also
most resource-intensive way to implement this feature would be to generate
the analysis “live” at the end of the survey. Alternatively, or in combination
with the live online feedback, a process could be developed for mailing a
respondent the report after the interview is completed.
One concern that arises is whether techniques such as these may be
disproportionately more likely to engage sample members who are particu-
larly interested in the topics measured by the survey—for example, in the
subject of energy efficiency—and who therefore are likely to be different
from the rest of the sample. This concern can probably be mitigated by
aiming to maintain high overall response rates. In other words, even if the
interactive tools attract a subset of the population which differs from the
rest of the sample, intensive nonresponse follow-ups, including through
different modes, should assure that any bias introduced by disproportionate
interest in the incentives among a subset of the population is minimized
after follow-up.
The question of how such feedback could affect participation in the
proposed longitudinal survey deserves particular attention. An interactive
feature could serve as an especially strong incentive if a longitudinal design
is introduced. However, it is possible that the feedback provided will alter
the behavior of respondents in the longitudinal sample, not only in terms
of their likelihood of participating in a second survey, but also in terms of
their energy consumption. The benefits and associated risks would have to
be evaluated.
1 For an example of the Final Report of Findings prepared for NHANES respondents, see
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_07_08/ROF_07_08_eng.pdf [December
2011].
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90 EFFECTIVE TRACKING OF BUILDING ENERGY USE
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS
EIA has considered the use of digital photographs in the past, and this
idea could be revisited, at least as a one-time research effort. Photos may
provide valuable information to supplement the interviews conducted in
face-to-face administration. They could also be useful in evaluating the
quality of self-reported data in web-administered questionnaires. Pictures
can help headquarters staff determine whether the definition of a com-
mercial building was applied correctly in the field, or to better understand
the layout of residential buildings. Pictures of critical equipment, includ-
ing nameplates, when it is possible to obtain these, may be useful in the
data cleaning and editing process (for example, for reconciling ambiguous
or questionable entries). Using cameras in this way, however, would likely
involve privacy and confidentiality considerations, and these would have to
be researched before the use of cameras could be implemented.
SURVEYS ON SPECIAL TOPICS AND
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR EIA
Given the burden that the questionnaire already imposes on respon-
dents, EIA should evaluate creative alternatives for collecting additional
data without increasing the overall burden on respondents. For example,
EIA could collect data on some specialized topics, such as knowledge, at-
titude, and behavior related to energy consumption, in the form of a sepa-
rate survey, independent of the current CBECS or RECS. EIA has added
specialized modules to individual cycles of the survey in the past, and it
should consider reinstating this practice. There are many possible ways
that such specialized data collections could be funded, but one possibility
to consider would be a collaboration with other government agencies or
organizations that have interest in the data. EIA might even consider serving
as the coordinator or data center for research on a number of special topics
or special populations.
Collaborations with energy suppliers could also be pursued beyond
what is required to obtain data for nonrespondents. Many utilities offer
energy efficiency incentives to their customers and sometimes commission
studies to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. EIA could explore
opportunities for data collections partially funded by energy suppliers if
data could be produced that is helpful for the utilities. If recommenda-
tions to collect energy consumption data about all of a utility’s customers
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ENERGY CONSUMPTION DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM
(instead of just sample members who do not provide adequate data) can be
implemented, providing utilities with some data could also become more
feasible. A collaboration of this type could serve as an incentive that encour-
ages energy suppliers to standardize their reporting in ways that enables EIA
to more efficiently integrate the data received from them.
Additional opportunities for more active dissemination and closer col-
laboration with the research community include working with other groups
collecting extensive data in limited regions or building types. Collaborations
with stakeholders can not only be useful in the short term but can also help
EIA plan for the future. Providing cost-recoverable custom analysis to the
public may be another area to explore.
The panel expects that interest in energy consumption data will contin-
ue to grow. Rapid changes in the energy landscape combined with changes
in the survey-taking environment require data collection approaches that
are continuously updated. Investments into state-of-the-art data collections
are necessary to assure that EIA remains at the forefront of energy consump-
tion research.
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